Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Chase Drivers On Letterman Tonight

Once again this season NASCAR takes the Chase For The Championship drivers to New York City for a media tour.

Tonight, the group will appear briefly on The David Letterman Show and handle the top ten...or twelve list.

Letterman airs at 11:30PM Eastern Time, but check your local listings for the time in your area.

Update: Here is the list from NASCAR for Wednesday AM appearances in NYC.

The 12 drivers will be splitting up and heading for three morning TV shows. Where they will be going is very interesting. Here are the choices:

Good Morning America on ABC (between 8-9AM)The Early Show on CBS (between 8-9AM)Fox And Friends on Fox News Channel (between 8-9AM)

Looks like The Today Show over on NBC is missing from the list.

NASCAR and NYC have an interesting history where this media exposure is concerned. ESPN no longer has a NYC studio, TNT is located in Atlanta, GA and SPEED is located in Charlotte, NC.

The vast majority of the NYC media exposure will be on entertainment or news programs that do not have a sports agenda or specific interest. Fans may remember this issue from last season.

Please feel free to add your TV-related opinion to this post. Just click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.

45 comments:

On Wednesday, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will appear on the Dan Patrick Show between 6-9 A.M. Eastern. If you don't know of a station near you, you can listen live on Dan's eponymous website, which also has listings for affiliate stations. After the show, the interview will most likely be streamed. No signup is required, and the player is embedded and works very well.

Eh, I have to say I don't think David Letterman is an appearance worth staying up for. Blink and it's over. Plus the David Letterman site will have the video up after the show (maybe even before since they film at 5:30 PM) and we can see it tomorrow morning.

Two years ago, the list the drivers had to read on Letterman was actually pretty funny. Last year it wasn't, and the Letterman writers were so uncreative I think they repeated one of the lines from the year before.

I used to really look forward to seeing drivers in NYC media, but last year (both before the Chase and before the banquet) was the absolute worst in shows giving them the short shrift or having them be interviewed by people who know nothing about NASCAR. They were on Good Morning America last year right before the Chase and the hosts barely spent about two or three minutes with the drivers and didn't even introduce all of them.

If it's like last year, they'll send drivers to different shows on different days: Fox News' morning show, CNN's morning shows, and local NYC news shows, plus lots of sports radio shows. It's my understanding that Dale Jr will be on Regis and Kelly Thursday. He's usually OK on there but not great, he always appears nervous and somewhat quiet. Hopefully he'll venture out of his "untucked, wrinkled button-down with t-shirt underneath it" look this time and try something new.

They might also tape shows this week for airing later. The best media appearance last year was taped: Jimmie Johnson and his wife on the Tyra Banks show. They got an entire half hour devoted to them and it was very entertaining and they showed a lot of personality. I think Jimmie's best interviews are when his wife is around. She's very classy but fun and complements him well - when he falls back into the habit of being bland and robotic, she livens him up some.

Any idea of the rest of the NYC schedule? I am here and would like go check out some of the appearances. --------------------The drivers should be at ESPN Zone in Times Square for media interviews (which will be on ESPNews and other shows) and usually fans can reserve seats and attend. Don't know what day, though it's probably tomorrow or Thursday.

Last year I questioned the validity of this NYC stop and got an earful from NASCAR.

The media that comes along to the Hardrock Cafe (yep, seriously that is the NASCAR HQ) is the Charlotte-based media that covers NASCAR full-time.

Last year they pitched a fit over the high prices and tough time getting around town. This year prices are higher and NYC does not even have NASCAR on its agenda.

Instead of streaming these guys on the Internet and having some fun from Charlotte, NASCAR has the old-style satellite media tour where tired drivers answer questions from TV anchors who never heard of them.

When it comes to communicating with the race fans of America, the Internet void is huge where this sport is concerned.

No amount of NASCAR.com shows with local Atlanta area talent is going to change that.

The Chase should be all over YouTube, FaceBook, MySpace and have its own Internet site so fans can get info directly.

Once again, NASCAR is stuck in the 1980's where TV and video exposure is concerned.

IIRC the Chase drivers haven't been on the Today Show since the year Tony Stewart was champion. I have no idea why.

And I also would like to see Jr wears something nice on Regis & Kelly. Jeff Gordon always has on a great suit or jacket (no tie) when he co-hosts. The pic JD has of Jr on Late Night with Letterman shows he can clean up nicely if he thinks about it. A jacket and jeans would be good. Maybe he's too sleepy in the morning for R&K to pick out some decent clothes, lol.

Anonymous said... Any idea of the rest of the NYC schedule? I am here and would like go check out some of the appearances. --------------------The drivers should be at ESPN Zone in Times Square for media interviews (which will be on ESPNews and other shows) and usually fans can reserve seats and attend. Don't know what day, though it's probably tomorrow or Thursday.

September 9, 2008 4:28 PM

There's been a switch this year from ESPN Zone to Hard Rock Cafe, as J.D. wrote in comment @4:28. What is NASCAR thinking? ESPN Zone is a sports bar from which many ESPN shows are broadcast. Hard Rock isn't. Will ESPN be upset that its facilities aren't used (and therefore promoted) while NASCAR drivers are interviewed?

WHEN:Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008 from 12-3:00 p.m. ET

WHERE:Hard Rock Cafe1501 BroadwayCorner of 43rd and Broadway in Times Square

ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONNASCAR's 12 Chase drivers in 2008 will appear at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square on Wednesday, Sept. 10, from 12-3:00 p.m. ET to take part in a media session and an interactive fan Q&A to kick off the 2008 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

The hosts of these shows always seem so uninformed talkng to the drivers. Makes the drivers appear uncomfortable.

My choice, if I were a driver would be Regis & Kelly and the Ellen DeGeneres shows. They seem to have a clue about racing. Jeff was on Ellen before. She referred to his driving suit as a costume. It was funny.

ESPN a NASCAR TV partner. Let's not have the drivers at our ESPN Zone. Makes sense to me.

I don't get the people who complain about appearances on the shows. If you don't like it, just don't watch. I always get a kick out the Top 12 list. Regis and Kelly has had some great moments too - I'll never forget the pie throwing bit which resulted in payback the next weekend by Harvick on Hamlin. Some of the guys do really well with TV, and others not so much. But there has been some fun moments that have come out of it IMO.

JD, I concur with your comments regarding the selling of the Chase. Why is it done in NY? It's not like the city provides a huge fan base. And the drivers could appear on any of those shows via satellite. That's the way it's done with many others who make appearances on those shows.

As for selling the sport and the Chase, why am I seeing so much written and on radio and TV that has nothing to do with the Chase? For instance, on today's Nascar Now, why was the lead story on Joey Logano? The story took more than 10 minutes of the show. Now, I realize that Nascar is trying to sell this kid as the future of Nascar, but what about the Nascar of today, namely the Chase? That should be word one everywhere, but they keep shoving stories about this kid, who has done absolutely nothing in Cup, down our throats. I mean, here they are interviewing Dale Jarrett, a respected veteran of the sport, and the first question out of Nicole's mouth is not about the Chase, but about Logano. The boy will have his time, but as I said, he's proven absolutely nothing, so why not help him keep his ego in check and publicize him once he's accomplished something of merit? What's going on here?????

David Letterman does know something about racing. He grew up in Indiana and bought into the Rahal Indy team. It's now called "Rahal-Letterman." He's not a rabid NASCAR fan, but he certainly knows how to pronounce everyone's name and knows the high points.

And now, the Top 12 Reasons Why I Want To Win The Chase:

12) Presented by the driver of the #17 DeWalt Power Tools Ford, Matt Kenseth - If I win I get a garageful of brand-new DeWalt Power Tools!

11) Presented by the driver of the #29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevy, Kevin Harvick - If I win the Chase, free Shell gas for everybody in the audience!

10) Presented by driver of the #24 DuPont Chevrolet Jeff Gordon - Jimmie Johnson and I made a bet. If I win the Chase, he has to change all the diapers in my house for a month.

9) Presented by Greg Biffle, driver of the #16 Dish Network Ford - If I win the Chase, my wife promised we could have three more dogs!

8) Presented by the driver of the #20 Home Depot Toyota, Tony Stewart - Three words: Booze and broads!

6) Presented by driver of the #11 Fed Ex Toyota, Denny Hamlin - If I win, my sponsors said I could fly the Fed Ex jet from Charlotte to Hollywood!

5) Presented by Clint Bowyer, driver of the #7 Jim Beam Dodge - No #5, writer still hung over from Sunday in Richmond.

4) Dale Earnhardt Jr. - f I win the Chase, the North Carolina State Troopers said I could double the speed limit!

3) Presented by Jimmie Johnson - Jeff Gordon and I made a bet. If he wins the Chase, I have to change all the diapers in his house for a month... If I win the Chase... [long pause, puzzled look, then] Hey, Jeff... JEFF! [cut to Gordon, looking around, all innocent]

2) Presented by Carl Edwards - If I win the Chase, Letterman promised he'd do a backflip with me! [Letterman shocked, shakes his head]

1) And the #1 reason why I want to win the Chase, presented by Kyle Busch driver of the #18 M & Ms Toyota - [Busch comes out with a case of M & M Peanuts, throwing bags to the audience] Chase? I really want to be Mr. Congeniality!

I know David Letterman is a team owner and a race fan. I should've mentioned him along w/R&K and Ellen. He's a cool guy and gets it. I was mainly saying it's those other shows that don't do the drivers justice.

Those aren't the real top 12 "Top NASCAR Perks" from tonight's program listed in the above post. You can find the real top 12 written online in several articles.

I switched the channel from NASCAR Now once I saw the top story was not only Joey Logano, but it was a repeat of his E60 segment, which has been available on espn.com for days. Unbelievably lazy of them.

I have a bad feeling we're going to see pieces of that footage about a dozen more times before the season is over.

I guess they haven't read the ESPN magazine story about Logano overexposure.

Interesting that Tony said on his show last night that the Rolling Stone article almost cost him the Stewart/Haas Office Depot sponsorship. He also said he learned that reporters are still listening when hanging out with you even if they don't have a notebook and recorder on them. And that should be a lesson to other drivers.

I thought he said earlier that the article was no big deal and not to read it if it bothered people. The weird thing is I saw another magazine cover for October online, Men's Journal which says "NASCAR Bad Boy Tony Stewart" on it. But he's not on the cover (Lance Armstrong is) so the story must be inside.

He also said he learned that reporters are still listening when hanging out with you even if they don't have a notebook and recorder on them. And that should be a lesson to other drivers.

wow. Tony's 37 years old and has been in NASCAR for how long? And he didn't know this? If a reporter is spending a few days or whatever following you wherever you go for a magazine like Rolling Stone, it's for a feature/profile, which is different than a "Stewart won today's race" article. But since Tony said in the article he doesn't read anything ever, I suppose he doesn't know that.

The reporter on a profile is following Tony as he goes about his days and nights, writing what he or she sees, and isn't going to pull out a notebook for formal interviews once a day. And probably had the recorder in his pocket after setting the ground rules with the PR person that nothing was off limits. If Tony didn't get that, he should deal with his PR person.

Tony is so used to the sycophantic NASCAR press, which practically lets him approve the stories they write about him, he can't believe someone would actually write what they observed. Regular NASCAR writers have probably seen that side of Tony a lot but never write about it. And Tony knows they never write about it. Which is why it was so shocking to some fans because all they read about, over and over, is the supernice guy who eats at the hometown Dairy Queen and gave his pet monkey to the zoo.

I feel sorry for the people on team he's going to own because he's going to implode sooner or later. If Office Depot was already upset with him and the season hasn't started, look out.

anonymous ( @1:06 am) said..."There's a reason why Nascar has gone to NYC. It's because NYC is the major center for media events like this, with it being the major center for news broadcasts.

You can argue the effectiveness of the tour, but Nascar really doesn't have a choice but to play the game."

i disagree. i contend that the rise of the internet and 24-hour cable channels have drastically lessened manhattan's standing. the world no longer needs to physically travel to manahattan to receive notice: there are alternatives and they are being used widely.

manhattan is most certainly "a" major news center but it is not the only one any longer. cnn's location choice of atlanta cut pretty deeply into that monopoly that manhattan enjoyed for decades. and the ability to do quality, live remote segments from pretty much anywhere eroded that further.

in addition, these appearances aren't news in the strict sense: they are, at best, "entertainment" and could probably have been done back home for the guys. fans will seek this out, no matter where it physically happens and, in reality, will likely find a way to repeatedly re-view the show segment if so desired.

manhattan is one of my 3 favorite cities but i don't believe it is the media powerhouse it once was even 10 years ago. i believe there has been a shift that will be more fully realized over the next 10 years: the internet is THE place to be seen by the largest number of eyes. one small example: the team that just did the particle acceleration work that had everyone fearing the world would end when thy turned the machines on? THEY did a youtube video about their work! science? meet the rest of the world via the internet, not by being on a physical set in a manhattan studio.

Unless the guys are going on Total Request Live on MTV I don't understand why NYC.

JD

September 10, 2008 9:11 AM

Which may be the issue. Just a couple of years ago, Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson WERE guests on TRL. The Chase drivers did a big fashion show on Regis and Kelly one year. Another year on Regis and Kelly they did the pie-throwing contest to try to get in the Guiness Book of World Records. NASCAR was a lot bigger in NYC in those seasons, and the shows which had the drivers on did a lot more planning and preparation for them. They wouldn't have gotten the same results with remote segments from Charlotte. They probably wouldn't have been invited at all.

Basically, they got more coverage just two and three years ago from NYC media than they do now, which justified their presence. NASCAR may be assuming the coverage and attention is just as good this week, without really monitoring it to verify if it is and if they need to change strategy.

anon 8:44:Kyle was the last guy because he's the points leader, so he got the best line. Tony doesn't get to have everything.

I wasn't saying that Tony should get everything. And I understand that Kyle was last because he was the points leader. It may be a Top Ten (12) list, but there really is no order. All I was saying was that they could have done a better job of matching the line with the drivers.

This year, wouldn't it have made more sense for Kyle to give this line: I use old checkered flags to make fabulous throw pillows; and Tony to give this one: After a race, your (butt) vibrates for days?

anon @10:17am said (in part):"This year, wouldn't it have made more sense for Kyle to give this line: I use old checkered flags to make fabulous throw pillows; and Tony to give this one: After a race, your (butt) vibrates for days? "

agreed, but that assumed a level of knowledge about nascar, the drivers, and the current season that the letterman writers obviously do not possess.

"Tony is so used to the sycophantic NASCAR press, which practically lets him approve the stories they write about him, he can't believe someone would actually write what they observed. Regular NASCAR writers have probably seen that side of Tony a lot but never write about it. And Tony knows they never write about it. "

This is so true. I'm still amazed that not a single NASCAR writer has mentioned Casey Mears is about to be a father, like, within the next month. Even though his gorgeous girlfriend is always at the races, his mother posts about the baby on Casey's official website, and there's a photo of the girlfriend, Casey and Rick Hendrick at Richmond on one of the NASCAR photo sites this week, no NASCAR media is even saying a word. It's like she's there but not there.

When he was announced as the Jack Daniels driver and did several extensive interviews and press conferences, including some where he mentioned different family members, he did not mention his girlfriend or kid to be, nor was he asked. Strangest thing I've ever seen. It's like there's an unspoken agreement not to mention it. Contrast to the Jeff Gordon baby countdown.

If a sportswriter for Yahoo - who normally doesn't write about NASCAR - hadn't mentioned it briefly during a story on Mears months ago, no one would ever know. They'd just wonder about this pregnant women standing next to Casey. Yet the woman is right there every week, sometimes on TV. It's tragic how self-censoring the NASCAR media is; are they really doing these drivers any favors by making them seem perfect? What's wrong with saying the very popular driver Casey is going to have a kid? I can't wait to see what the writers do when the child is actually born...

"manhattan is one of my 3 favorite cities but i don't believe it is the media powerhouse it once was even 10 years ago."

It may not be, but it's still the place all those morning news shows are broadcast from, as well as a ton of other stuff. Nascar already does a ton of satellite interviews, but that doesn't make for an event like sending the Chase drivers to NYC to appear on all the shows they can. And this isn't about appealing to the regular fans who watch every week, it's about getting the attention of the people who aren't fans yet. The kind who don't read blogs or search youtube.

For them, you go for the morning news shows, Regis and Kelly, TRL and whatever else you can get your drivers in front of a camera for.

Anon, what you said about Casey and the media applies to FOX, SPEED TNT and ESPN too. I was waiting to hear all kinds of fun stuff about the baby on Trackside last time Casey came over to the set to chat with the guys. I thought that was the perfect show for him to finally talk about it and get teased and act excited. They talked about Elliott's engagement on there, so they do chat about personal lives. Unless I missed part of the show, no baby discussion and I bet we'll be waiting a long time for any!